"I, born with meager talent and ill fate, brought calamity upon my late father"—I am an ill-fated person by nature, having even caused my father's death. "Late father" refers to a deceased parent.
"Nine years of heart-wrenching grief led to one night of enlightenment"—(After being confined in the Temple of Common Vocation) I grieved for nine years before finally achieving profound enlightenment.
"Life's beginnings are not of our choosing; I was born into the imperial household"—Being born into the royal family was beyond my control.
"Though of royal lineage, nurtured by imperial teachings, my frail form pales before the willow, my fragile life like dew on chives"—Though born a princess (niece of the emperor) and raised with imperial education, my dull intellect and weak constitution destined me for an early demise. "Dew on chives" refers to a famous funeral dirge, comparing human life to the fragility of dew on chive leaves (thinner than leek leaves).
"Raised by my noble mother's care, yet forced to abandon her tenderness; educated in the palace, I shamefully lack the pine's endurance against winter"—Though raised with maternal love from my noble mother, I must leave her, unable to match the pine's resilience in cold.
"When the waters of Yanping ran dry, the Dragon Sword left its spring; when the Qin Jade Tower collapsed, the Phoenix Flute departed forever"—These are two allusions. The Book of Jin records: Zhang Hua and the extraordinary Lei Huan excavated the paired swords Longquan and Tai'e at Fengcheng, Yuzhang. Each kept one sword. After Zhang Hua's death, his sword disappeared. One day, when Lei Huan's son passed Yanping Ford with his sword, it leaped from his waist into the water. Divers saw two great dragons swimming below, creating a commotion before vanishing. This allusion typically uses "Dragon Sword leaves the abyss," but here "abyss" is replaced with "spring" to avoid the taboo of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan's name.
The Han-dynasty Biographies of Immortals records: During Duke Mu of Qin's reign, the handsome flutist Xiao Shi married the duke's daughter Nongyu, who learned to play so beautifully that phoenixes were drawn. The duke built a high tower where the couple lived for years without descending, eventually flying away with the phoenixes to immortality.
"May my imperial ancestors live ten thousand years, my noble mothers a thousand autumns; may the prosperous age continue peaceful, and all people thrive. Your humble servant Li bows twice"—This is a standard closing formula requiring no explanation. Tang dynasty women often signed letters and referred to themselves orally as "Your humble servant + surname," rarely using given names.
When Wei Shufen mentioned the "Vase-Furnace Trio" (though this term itself emerged relatively late), she was referring to three utensils: the incense burner, Chopstick Vase, and Incense Box. The "chopsticks and Incense Shovel" placed in the "Chopstick Vase" were used to stir the incense ashes, while the "Incense Box" held Scented Cakes, Scented Pills, or Scented Balls.
#####This book includes extensive historical artifact images in its annotations. Since the publishing platform does not support image embedding, please visit the author’s Weibo to view them. Search for the ID "Tang Dynasty Guide Forest Deer" on Sina Weibo. Discussions are welcome. ????
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